A track which is used on recreational vehicles designed to travel on snow, such as a snowmobile, or grounds, such as an all-terrain vehicle, consists basically of an endless body of molded rubber material that is flexible so that it may follow curvatures as it passes around drive and idler sprocket wheels forming part of the track driving system.
Endless tracks which are found more particularly on snowmobiles or all-terrain vehicle are made of rubber material which is reinforced with longitudinally spaced and transversally disposed rods embedded in the rubber material. The inner side of the track is usually flat with serially spaced lugs which are adapted to engage the driving wheels. The outer side of the track displays a series of longitudinally spaced transverse profiles for engaging the snow or ground over which the snowmobile travels. These profiles thus provide traction to the vehicle on snow, mud, ice or any similar surfaces.
Some tracks exist in which the rubber material in the lateral portion of the outer side profiles has a lower hardness value than that of the rubber material in the central portion of the outer side profiles to allow the track to bend more easily during a sharp turn while still being rigid enough at the center for maintaining a good traction during use. Such a track may be found described in Canadian patent application No. 2,319,934 filed Sep. 18, 2000 and published Mar. 18, 2002.
However, while these known tracks facilitate the steering capability of these types of vehicles, it does not improve traction of the profile when travelling in surfaces which, in some cases, are hard (packed snow or ice) and, in other cases, soft (deep snow).